Last night, Bill Simmons inadvertently broke the story of the Moss-to-Vikings trade with a tweet that was intended to be a direct message, characterizing the move as a rumor.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports broke the story as news shortly thereafter that the Vikings and the Cheating New England Patriots were close to a deal that would send Randy Moss back home to Minnesota.

ESPN’s Adam Scheftertweeted this morning that the Pats will get a third-round pick from the Vikings in return for Moss. And to think we could’ve had Vincent Jackson for two second-round picks!

The NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi (who, by the way, has Mickey’s diner as his Twitter background image: @michaellombardi) tweeted that there will be no new contract for Moss as a part of the deal.

Moss’ return pretty much solves our offensive problems. Just put him on the damn field and give him the damn ball. Even without familiarity with Brad Childress‘ kick-ass offense, teams still have to prepare for Moss the way they have been preparing for Adrian Peterson: Develop a game plan to shut him down.

It’s hard to do when you’ve got one ridiculously talented player who has the ability to defeat whatever scheme you present. Now you got two to deal with. Suckers!

If the deal happens today, as expected, then we can put Randy on the field on Monday to occupy the Jets rockstar corner Darrelle Revis, who, it should be pointed out, Moss already beat for a touchdown earlier this year.

Brett Favre finally has the receiver he can toss the ball up to with confidence that he’ll go and get it, regardless of coverage.

We may finally learn if Bernard Berrian can get open when he’s uncovered.

A three-wide set of Moss, Percy Harvin and Greg Camarillo looks mighty good to me and with Moss on the field, Camarillo might suddenly become the Wes Welkerish receiver we kinda expected him to be.

So with Randy Moss back in the fold, let’s run down Favre’s options and the weapons Vikings opponents need to contend with:

Adrian Peterson out of the backfield

Randy Moss deep…or underneath…or for a quick sideline pass…or a fade in the end zone…or a jump ball anywhere

Percy Harvin in the slot underneath and down the seam

Greg Camarillo working underneath and the short sidelines

Visanth(e) Shiancoe underneath and down the seam

And if Sidney Rice comes back any time this year? Fool, pleeease.

Since there is no reworking of his contract, this looks like a Rent-A-Randy deal, which probably makes sense from the Vikings point of view, at least at this point in time.

Playing on the last year of his contract, Moss will likely have plenty to prove…to the Patriots (who we play October 31 at Gillette Stadium)…and to the rest of the league, one team of which will be his next employer.

And a Randy Moss with a point to make is a pretty dangerous thing. We’ve seen what he’s always done to the Cowboys, who we play after the Jets. And he’s always devastated the Packers, who didn’t want him badly enough, even with Brett Favre in his corner. We can just add the Cowboys game and those two games against the Packers to the win column right now.

Despite his desire for a long-term contract, a one-year deal with the Vikings probably makes sense for Moss, too.

With Favre playing perhaps his last season, why would Randy want to stick around to watch Joe Webb develop at this point in his career?

Unless the Vikings make it to the Super Bowl, Favre has another good year and can be convinced to return for another go-round and/or the Vikings make the case that they’re going after Donovan McNabb, there’s no real incentive for Randy to stick around.